About Novartis (Bangladesh) Limited
Novartis (Bangladesh) Limited operates as a subsidiary of Novartis AG, a global healthcare company based in Switzerland that provides solutions to address the evolving needs of patients worldwide. It is a joint venture between Novartis AG (60%) and Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (40%) of Government of People's Republic of Bangladesh.
Novartis provides healthcare solutions specializing in research, development, manufacturing and marketing of a range of healthcare products led by pharmaceuticals. The Company operates businesses with global scale and strong customer ties, focusing on innovative patented medicines, generics and eye care devices. Supported by a strong corporate governance framework based on the most stringent compliance standards, the company operates with the highest principles of uncompromising integrity.
The manufacturing site of Novartis (Bangladesh) Limited is located at Tongi in Gazipur. The company exports its products to more than 55 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and America. As the country’s leading pharmaceutical exporters, Novartis (Bangladesh) Limited received the National Export Trophy (GOLD) three times.
Under Corporate Responsibility in Bangladesh, Novartis is working to improve the access to healthcare service for the community people of remote and rural areas in Bangladesh by developing Community Paramedics through the project ‘ASTHA’. Novartis is also supporting the Rohingya Health Care in collaboration with Swiss Red Cross and Bangladesh Red Crescent Society. Recently, the Company has donated drugs valued USD 28,000 (Twenty Eight Thousand)) to the Prime Minister’s fund as per her commitment to support the people of Bhutan. As a good corporate citizen, the Company has contributed BDT 352 crore in last 5 years in the form of VAT, corporate tax and withholding tax in addition to excise and customs duty.
Journey of Novartis (Bangladesh) Limited
1973: Registration at joint stock company as Ciba Geigy (Bangladesh) Limited.
1979: Joint venture agreement between Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) and Ciba Geigy.
1980: Launching of life saving drugs in Bangladesh.
1986: Introduction of Ophthalmic products in the Bangladeshi market.
1989: Inauguration of the Novartis Plant, a state of the art pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Bangladesh.
1990: First locally manufactured product launched in Bangladesh.
1995: Started exporting locally manufactured products to Vietnam, first pharmaceutical product export from Bangladesh.
1996: Novartis (Bangladesh) Limited took birth from the merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz AG in Bangladesh.
1999: Spin off Crop Protection business to Syngenta.
2000: Awarded the EU GMP certification as the first pharmaceutical company in Bangladesh.
2003: Novartis Generics was renamed as Sandoz.
2008: Awarded the National Gold Trophy for the Years 2002-2003 and 2003-2004
2015: Started manufacturing suppository products from Novartis Manufacturing Plant at Tongi.
2018: Awarded the “Dream Companies to Work For” in “Bangladesh Best Employer Brand Awards-2018”.